Something to Work Towards
by m2viids
Summary: Orihime, a girl who's all alone at her new school, Las Noches. Ulquiorra, a senior who has no passion or goals to work for. Slowly growing dependent on him, Orihime eventually becomes something irreplaceable to Ulquiorra... Something he never had before.
1. Prologue: Comfortable Silence

**Better Summary:**

**Orihime is a young girl who had to move with her mother to the town of Sousuke, and attend Las Noches Gakuen. The story starts off with her in a very vulnerable state, due to the fact that her mother (portrayed by Unohana in this world. ^^) can't drop her off, and that she always thought she'd be with all of her friends in High School. She meets Ulquiorra while faltering on the path to the school, and Ulquiorra tells her something that makes her able to go to the school. This story is about how their relationship develops. Review, since this is actually a collaboration fic. I'm not working with anyone else online, I'm working with my friends on this, so I'd really like as much input as I can possibly get.**

**In other words, my friends, review or else. ^^**

***eyes glow red***

**I'll have to show you just how dark the depths of my inner soul are. **

* * *

_I hate this town. I hate that I had to leave all of my nakama behind to go to some place I hardly know, and even when I'm starting high school here… Mom not being able to drop me off doesn't make this feel much better though..._

A young girl with auburn hair walked slowly down an empty street, passing by the alien homes surrounding her. She looked down at her wrist, and saw that she was already late. But in all reality, she didn't really care about that.

_It's nothing like Karakura, where all of the houses are far apart… It's almost like there's a house, and three feet next to it, there's another one._ I wish I didn't have to move… Why now of all times? I used to dream about how I'd go to high school with Tatsuki, Uryuu, Chad, Rukia… Kurosaki-kun.

The thought that she wouldn't be able to see him anymore caused her to stop. She looked around, seeing that she was at the base of a large hill, with trees standing tall on both sides of the path, right past the sidewalk. The girl stared at the path, and thought about how depressing it was, feeling like she wasn't actually going to a new school.

_It's more like entering into a new world. A bleak, lonely, black and white world._

The girl stood, paralyzed. She reached into her schoolbag and pulled out a small photograph.

The picture was of a little girl and a young man, probably in his early twenties. They were both smiling, the little girl sitting on top of the man's shoulder, waving to the camera, the man holding onto her, making sure she didn't fall down.

"Nii-chan?" The girl stood still, clutching the photograph against her chest. "I know that it's been a while since we last talked, but… I need to talk with somebody now. Mom and I had to move, and now… I'm scared… I always used to dream about being surrounded by the friends who really cared about me when I went to high school, but I'm all alone here, and it's really scary. I thought that I was going to be surrounded by my friends, everyone saying 'do your best!' to me, and cheering me on, but…"

A single tear fell down her face, and she wiped it away, still clutching the photograph against her chest.

As the girl began speaking, she didn't notice a young man walking in the same direction she had been previously, about thirty feet behind her.

"Nothing can stay unchanged… Even so, can I find it in me to love such a place as this? Such a scary, lonely, and foreign place? All of those happy and fun things from before… They can't all possibly stay unchanged..."

"Just find new ones."

The girl turned around, her auburn hair blocking her sight for only a moment, before her grey eyes were greeted by the sight of a boy. He was only a little taller than her, but had skin that almost seemed too pale to be human. His dark hair that fell onto his face, covering a small part of his eyes, and he was facing her, there was no doubt about it in her mind. Her glance fell onto his face, and finally, she saw the boy's eyes. They were a strikingly harsh green color, and seemed to be have no emotion in his eyes, as if he didn't really care that he was actually ten minutes late for school. He wore a white school uniform that had the same symbol that hers did, a reversed black crescent moon. He had one hand in his pocket, the other holding onto his own schoolbag.

A weak wind blew past them, causing her school uniform to flutter in the breeze. Her hair followed in pursuit, almost glistening in the cool morning air.

She stared at the boy for a moment, only a weak look of confusion on her face.

"Just find new fun and happy things." He continued speaking, his voice staying in a monotone that only seemed bored. Or was it agitated? The girl couldn't really tell, and just stood staring at him with an inability to understand him. The boy heaved a sigh.

"C'mon, let's get going." The boy said to her, before starting up the long hill silently, with a tired expression on his face.

_Not a sleepy tired, but more like an "Orihime, stop cooking all of that food, it's going to make you sick!" look mom gets. When she's like that, mom's face is so funny when she's trying to yell at me like that._ Orihime giggled a little bit at the thought of her mother's "strict face". The boy didn't seem to notice, as he was already ahead of her. Seeing that she was falling behind, she ran for a moment to catch up, walking silently next to the boy, heading up the long, difficult hill.

_I never thought that silence could be so comforting._

_

* * *

_

**So, what'd you think? For those of you who couldn't tell, yes, I will be using multiple references from other anime, such as CLANNAD. From what I've written so far, I've used quite a bit of the first episodes of CLANNAD, however, the story eventually changes aspects. And for those of you who say that this person couldn't possibly be Ulquiorra, I have a lot of things I can use to defend my Ulquiorra:**

**1) Ulquiorra does start feeling emotion after his death, and shows that he does indeed feel it when he fights Ichigo on top of the dome of Las Noches.**

**2) Ulquiorra was never really evil or violent, he was much more of a person who just stands there. He won't fight or act cruel without external stimuli, such as an order from someone who is capable of killing him, like Aizen.**

**3) Ulquiorra is only saying this because he's answering her question. He is not really interested in her, he's just answering her question.**

**Also, as a final note, no, Ulquiorra is not actually be encouraging to Orihime. He is simply stating a way to solve her problem, without actually caring about the outcome itself(my friend who read this earlier told me about how OOC Ulquiorra seemed to be when he spoke to Orihime).**

**LEAVE A REVIEW PLEASE!**


	2. Chapter 1: Strange Girl

**Everybody, please leave a review. I don't know how to improve unless you speak up. ^^""**

**

* * *

**

Our black haired protagonist winced, as a scream filled the air. He continued walking down the street, reaching a large building, the male dorm for "Las Noches Academy", one of Japan's top thirty high schools.

The boy walked through the open gate of the dormitory, only to see a blue-haired man being lifted from behind by a large and muscular man, the whole scenario being watched by at least ten other men of similar stature.

"So, Grimmjow, have you learned your lesson now?" The largest of the men shouted out at the electric blue haired boy, while the man who was lifting Grimmjow held up the poor guy by only his wrists. "What the hell do you think you're doing, playing that damned C.D. so loud in the morning? You wake up more than half the dorm!" The blue haired boy turned towards the leader, and glared at him menacingly.

"I can't get on to more important things unless I listen to the fucking song. It wakes me up so I can get going." The arrogant blue haired man said, "So fuck off. Got it?" The venom dripping from his words made it seem like he was begging for a fight. The largest man only seemed to get more pissed at Grimmjow's attitude.

"SCRUM!" the man who was holding Grimmjow in the air switched from holding him by the wrists to putting him into a full nelson, rendering the man defenseless.

"It seems as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening today, right Grimmjow?" the young boy with jet black hair asked lazily from a few feet away. The blue haired boy noticed, and called out to him.

"Oi! Ulquiorra, you bastard, come on, help me take these guys out!" Grimmjow said with a smirk on his face. "We can take these losers!"

"I'd rather not get involved." Ulquiorra said, his voice dripping with equal boredom when compared to Grimmjow's anger. "I don't want people to associate me with someone like you." Grimmjow gaped at him.

"You bastard." Grimmjow said in disbelief. Unfortunately, that was the last thing he said before he was hurled to the ground, rolling from the force behind the throw. As he rolled, he had his face stepped on by every last man who was surrounding him, causing him to both continue bouncing in midair and experience a hellish world of pain.

After falling flat on his face, he found himself being picked up by another large, burly man, being tossed about two and a half feet into the air. As he fell, his spine found its way to the largest man's foot, in the form of falling into a powerful kick. Even Ulquiorra realized that that kick had to hurt much more than being stepped on.

As Grimmjow got up from the kick, he found himself being lifted and tossed from behind, each man tossing him to the next, until he hit the ground, only to be slammed on top of by another large man.

"Hey, shut up already!" A woman's voice echoed throughout the hallway, and Ulquiorra turned and saw a woman with bright green hair charge down the hallway, swing around something (it was spinning too fast for Ulquiorra to see), shouting out "Break it up!"

The men all ran from the building, some stumbling, as they escaped the approaching threat of the woman who was charging towards them.

"For the love of God." The woman groaned. "I'm the one who has to deal with all of the complaints we get from the neighbors." Ulquiorra turned and faced the woman, still completely calm.

"Being a dorm mother must be a difficult job." he remarked.

"Nel, I could've handled them myself." Grimmjow, who was now brushing the dirt off of his clothes, was standing in between Ulquiorra and the large, mature-bodied green haired woman. Ulquiorra could tell he was pissed that Nel had to come to his aid.

"You're the whole reason this started…" Nel said as she turned around and smacked Grimmjow across the face with the mop she had been spinning earlier("_So that's what it was._" Ulquiorra thought). "Why can't you just learn your lesson." Nel turned and headed back down the hall she had come, leaving Grimmjow without any of his former pride. The electric blue haired man was speechless.

Later, in a small dorm room, Ulquiorra was listening to the daily rant Grimmjow gave about how if it was a fair one-on-one fight, he could've taken the rugby club. Ulquiorra just phased out and was messing around with Grimmjow's pet cat while Grimmjow was blowing up over how he was sick on being treated like that by them. As the rant was finishing up, Ulquiorra finally could no longer ignore Grimmjow, and actually bothered listening to him.

"Just you wait, when graduation comes, I'll pay back every last one of those losers in full." Grimmjow's voice was proud and confident as he spoke, and he turned to Ulquiorra. "When that time comes, I hope you'll watch my back, Ulquiorra, you damned bastard."

"Don't worry, I'll finish you from behind. It'll be quick and painless." Ulquiorra said, feigning a high five and a smile at his childhood companion.

"WHAT THE HELL? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO GO AFTER THEM, DAMMIT!" Grimmjow shouted out accusingly towards Ulquiorra.

"But I support the rugby club's actions." Ulquiorra said as he stood up, walked over to Grimmjow's mini-fridge, and took a soda.

After a few hours just relaxing with Grimmjow, Ulquiorra decided to leave. It was already dark out, and he headed towards his apartment complex. He decided to take a longer route, walking past the park.

_No one's waiting for me, so there's no harm in doing so._

As he came closer and closer to the park, he started hearing something. It was small at first, and Ulquiorra thought he was imagining it. But as he got closer, the sound got louder and louder.

_It's a girl's voice, I think…_

As he came closer, he started hearing the voice singing a beautiful melody. It was almost hypnotic, the way it felt nostalgic, calming, and gentle. He couldn't quite make out the words, so he jogged the rest of the way to the park.

As the park came into sight, he started making out the words the girl, whoever it was, was singing.

"_Suki Tooru… Yume wo mite ita… Yawarakai, eien."_

Ulquiorra stopped in front of a wall right in front of the park, to avoid being seen. He knew his intimidating features would at least scare off the singer, and he wanted to listen to her. Her voice was absolutely beautiful, after all.

"_Kaze no youna… Kasuka na koe ga…_

_Takai sora kara, boku wo yondeiru."_ She took a deep breathe, leaving Ulquiorra breathless, wanting to hear more of the song. His wish was soon granted.

"_Kono mama, tobi tateba, doko ni datte yukeru."_

Ulquiorra moved from behind his hiding spot at the wall, and saw a female figure sitting on a swing, standing still. She didn't notice his approach at first, and simply sat there, staring at the ground. Ulquiorra approached her, hands in his pockets, completely calm. He called out to her.

"Woman." The girl's head perked up, and she turned to face him. She remained silent and continued looking down on at the ground. Ulquiorra was slightly annoyed at being ignored, so he continued approaching her. After a few brisk steps, he stood directly in front of her, his stature engulfing the poor girl. He stopped, and out of nowhere, the girl reached into her jacket and pulled out a tazer, pointing it directly at Ulquiorra. However, to his own surprise, he wasn't intimidated. He simply walked over to her, and she started shaking in fear.

"You shouldn't handle something so dangerous, woman." Ulquiorra plucked the tazer from her hand, and placed it in his own pocket. The girl simply stared at him, before standing up and walking at him, moving close enough that her face was inches from his.

_What the…_

Ulquiorra found the girl's actions to be unpredictable and illogical. He didn't understand why she was doing something like this. Then, the girl gasped.

"You're that guy I met on the first day of school!" She shouted. She seemed more relaxed, and Ulquiorra, who was feeling agitated at the girl's need to shout out every fact and memory that was of even vague importance, sat her down on the swing, in the hopes it would make her calm down.

"Calm down woman. You'll attract unnecessary attention." Ulquiorra said monotonously. "You will answer my questions, understood?"

The girl nodded enthusiastically.

"Why are you here in the middle of the night? You're going to get in trouble. If someone dangerous had come, you probably would be beaten and raped."

Orihime gasped. "Why would someone target me for rape?"

_This woman doesn't even realize her sex appeal… Is she really that foolish?_

"But it's alright, since you're the person who found me, right?" The girl smiled brightly at Ulquiorra.

The stoic boy was not used to this kind of treatment, and simply sighed.

"Who are you anyways woman?" Ulquiorra's voice was aggravated slightly. He felt as if this girl in front of him wasn't taking him seriously.

The girl jumped off the swing and smiled at him.

"Unohana Orihime, Las Noches Freshman, Class 1-A. I enjoy cooking, singing, and drawing. It's nice to meet you." the girl bowed politely at Ulquiorra. "And who are you?" Orihime asked Ulquiorra, looking up at him.

"Ulquiorra." He replied, deciding that that was enough information for the woman at the moment. "So, have you found those 'fun' and 'happy' things you're looking for yet?"

The peppy girl looked at the ground, and simply remained silent for a few minutes. Ulquiorra didn't mind. He enjoyed silence, actually.

"I don't have much of a prescence in class, and I don't even know the first thing I'd say if I wanted to talk with my classmates. No one seems to want to talk to me even, it's like they don't care if I exist." Orihime stared at the ground, unwilling to look at Ulquiorra.

"They don't." The harsh reply came from Ulquorra, who simply stared at the girl. "That's why you have to get them to know you, so that they start to care, woman. You have to speak with them, not the other way around."

Orihime stared at Ulquiorra, and then allowed herself to plop back into the swing with a sigh. "You make it sound so-"

Orihime found her feet leaving the ground, and let out a scream of surprise, only to realize that Ulquiorra had pushed the swing. And now, said Ulquiorra was clutching his ears. "Woman, you will not do that again." Orihime could feel the anger in his voice.

"Sorry." Orihime apologized, and sighed.

Ulquiorra started to leave the girl to return home. He had to get some level of rest for tomorrow. Noticing that he was leaving, Orihime got up from the swing and chased after him. She grabbed his shirt and tugged on it.

"What is it woman?" Ulquiorra said, his irritation obvious.

"Um… Where do you live, Ulquiorra-kun?" Orihime's cheeks became a bright pink color, and she remained silent.

"The apartment building that's down this street." Ulquiorra said simply, before he walked off again. Orihime begrudgingly released him.

"Ulquiorra-kun!" the boy turned around, only to see Orihime waving at him. "I'll see you tomorrow at school!" She had a goofy grin plastered onto her face, and she then began running down the street in the opposite direction.

_What a strange girl… I hope I don't have to deal with this kind of thing too much, it's absolutely pointless…_

_

* * *

_

**Once again, I remind you to leave a review.**


	3. Chapter 2: 99 Left to Go

**Please review... For this story has already been planned from beginning to end, and will continue on despite all of my previously written threats. ^^""**

**It's been that way for a while, actually...**

* * *

Ulquiorra sat on his bed, dressed in the boring pure white uniform of Las Noches Gakuen. He was contemplating whether or not to bother going to school today. He didn't feel like it, and knew that even if he went, there wouldn't be a real purpose in doing so. Not that such a fact upset him, it was only that… it was true. He looked at his clock, seeing that in only a half an hour school would be starting. He turned and allowed himself to fall back into his bed, deciding that he wouldn't go to school today. He hadn't gotten much sleep anyways last night.

_Damn strange woman. I don't know if she could've become more annoying._

Ulquiorra sat up when a sudden knocking on his door was heard. Getting up from his bed, he walked over, and swung the door open. In front of him was the freshman from the night before. Ulquiorra was too surprised to say anything, and simply stared at her in disbelief. He couldn't even begin to think of what to say at this sight.

"Ohayou, Ulquiorra-kun." Orihime was energetic, even in the morning, Ulquiorra noted. "I was waiting in front of the building so we could walk to school together, but if we don't head out now, we'll be late."

"Woman, you never cease to amaze me." Ulquiorra was irritated that his plan would go unfulfilled today, since the woman had decided to invite herself to his home. He chose to massage his temples, a habit this woman was making him develop to release the pain from his mental stress, as well as the headache this woman seemed to provide with every turn. With a sigh, he retreated into his apartment, and returned, holding his schoolbag. As he left his apartment, he made sure that it was locked, and started heading towards the school, only to be followed by the freshman.

They silently passed by a few houses, before Orihime decided to make conversation.

"Ulquiorra-kun, want to hear about my dream last night?"

The girl found herself being answered only by his silence, and felt silly that she had tried to ask him something like that, criticizing her actions in her mind.

_Ulquiorra wouldn't want to talk about me, he'd much rather me be interested in learning about him!_

"What's your favorite color? What about your favorite book? Do you listen to music? What kind of music do you listen to, I like-" Orihime found Ulquiorra's hand covering her mouth.

**_Does she never stop talking? No, the question is whether she ever says anything intelligent._**

"Woman, I have a splitting headache, and would prefer if you remained silent. Is that perfectly clear?" Ulquiorra's blank green stare meet Orihime's excited eyes, and she nodded her head vigorously, the third-year's hand still covering her mouth. Ulquiorra removed it, once again remaining silent as he trudged forward, hastening into a brisk stride, if for nothing else, to ensure he lost this infuriating woman. Unfortunately, she kept pace, causing the poor boy to deal with her presence even longer than he had been hoping.

Once they reached the school gate, Orihime noticed all of the students whispering as they passed by. She moved forward to ask what they were talking about, only to be stopped by Ulquiorra's hand on her shoulder. He shook his head, and she continued following him. Once they were farther inside of the school, Ulquiorra turned around and faced her.

"My homeroom is farther up ahead. If you don't get going to your own classroom, you won't make it in time." Ulquiorra motioned for her to go her own separate way. However, before she did so, she walked over to Ulquiorra, and straightened his tie, before turning around and running off towards her own classroom, waving at the still irritated and annoyed boy on his own, before he headed to his own classroom. He was greeted by Grimmjow waiting at his desk.

"Oi, Ulquiorra! Why the hell didn't you tell me you were dating that hot freshman chick?" Ulquiorra was taken aback for a moment, and most of the class turned and faced him with disapproving or pitying looks. Ulquiorra sighed and rubbed his temples in aggravation.

"Grimmjow, I'm not dating that aggravating woman. It seems she's grown attached to me, although the feeling is not mutual." Ulquiorra's harsh, stone cold response made Grimmjow look at him irritatedly.

"Oh, come on. You know she's hot. I mean have you seen her-" Grimmjow was cut off by Ulquiorra's foot. The other classmates simply waited for their teacher, knowing full well that violence was the only way to keep Grimmjow in line. "What the fuck was that for?" Another foot to the face. The teacher walked in and Ulquiorra took his seat.

Dozing off during class, Ulquiorra stared out the window, doing absolutely nothing. He simply stared at everything, observing every detail silently from his desk, taking in everything outside the window. Until lunch, Ulquiorra simply did this. It was his normal everyday routine. He decided to take a walk around the campus. He had nothing better to do anyways. He looked out the window, and saw the woman eating by herself. Her back slouched and head looking down, a pathetic weakness almost pitiable, in Ulquiorra's eyes. Ulquiorra decided to check on her, in order to ensure the woman knew of his reputation, and to ensure that said reputation kept her away from him as often as possible. As he came closer to her, she saw him and waved weakly towards him.

"Why are you sitting here alone? Did we not discuss that you have to pursue things, and that they won't just come to you?" Ulquiorra said, as he took a seat next to her. Orihime fidgeted around, obviously embarrassed that Ulquiorra had to repeat himself about something so simple.

"I know, but I tried and everybody just ignored me." the girl was obviously melancholic in her actions, and Ulquiorra remained silent, unreadable, and most importantly, uncaring. She looked up towards him confusedly.

"That's because you were seen walking to school with me. I am considered by the people both attending and working at this school to be a delinquent. Half the time I'm skipping classes and when I'm in classes, I don't even bother paying attention." Ulquiorra rolled his eyes inside of his mind, disliking that he had to explain such things to such a freshman girl, when his actions were normally known all over the school. Orihime simply looked taken aback.

"Why would you do that kind of stuff? You won't get anywhere in the future if you do that!" Orihime's voice expressed concern for the delinquent. Ulquiorra motioned for her to be silent.

"I have no goals, or anything I'm really passionate about. Why would I want to work here in school if I'm not going to do anything." Ulquiorra simply shrugged off her previous objection. Orihime simply sat there and stared at him.

"Um… So, why not join a club or something?" Ulquiorra turned to face the girl as if she was insane. It was the most emotion Ulquiorra had expressed, as far as Orihime was concerned. "You're not in any clubs, are you?"

"No, I see no reason to join a club. They are a commitment without any initiative to join. There's no prize in joining a club, no merit. Why would I waste my time with such when I can simply instill fear into others and have them do whatever I desire me?" Orihime tried to laugh off what Ulquiorra was saying, although internally, she found it… disturbing, to say the least.

"Well, have you ever been in a club?" Orihime was starting to become afraid of the boy sitting next to her. After all, it seemed this way a very violent person.

"No. Have I not already explained why I'm not in a club?" Ulquiorra seemed perplex. Orihime couldn't believe what she was hearing. Ulquiorra was sitting next to her, saying that clubs were absolutely worthless, and that no one got anything out of them, when he had never been in one! Orihime grabbed his hand and stood up, and started dragging Ulquiorra behind her, purpose in each stride she took.

"You are coming with me and signing up for a club." Ulquiorra thought about objecting, but since this woman did not follow any normal pattern of thought he had seen before, he figured that she would not react like a normal person and release him, so he simply remained silent. When the girl finally stopped in front of a bulletin board with a list of active clubs on it. Orihime took out her cell phone, and quickly made notes of every club that was on the list and the meeting places for after the school day was over. She released Ulquiorra's wrist. "You'd better show up in front of the school gates when the day's over, so that we can check out all of the clubs together, alright?" All Ulquiorra replied with was a grunt. Orihime sighed. "Is there really nothing that you enjoy doing?"

Ulquiorra remained silent, and he suddenly dropped his head and stared at the ground. Orihime could've sworn that she felt something was sad about him at the moment. He turned on his heel and started off. Orihime started after him, but he turned around, and a look of anger showed up on Ulquiorra's face.

"Do not follow me, woman." It wasn't a request, it was an order. The anger was not hidden at all within his voice. Orihime couldn't overcome the fear of this man in front of her enough to speak to him again. She simply stood there, left confused and lonely.

Once the school day was over, Orihime waited in front of the school gates, waiting for Ulquiorra. Hours passed, and she simply stayed in front of the gates. She no longer wanted to tour the clubs with Ulquiorra, they were all finished meeting. She just wanted someone to walk home with, feeling just as alone as she had in the beginning. She just wanted someone to keep her company.

"Hey, you're that chick Ulquiorra's been hanging around with recently, right?" Orihime perked up at the gruff voice that came from in front of her, and snapped out of her inner thoughts, and looked up to see a man, taller than her by probably a little more than Ulquiorra, with electric blue hair and eyes. He wore their same uniform, although he wore the shirt buttoned open, revealing what Orihime knew to be a very muscular torso. He seemed tough, and had a bandage on his face. His eyes were penetrating, invasive, and portrayed a kind of anger that made Orihime even more frightened than she already was. "Well? Aren't you?" His voice was growing impatient. Orihime could do little more than nod. "Why the hell are you still here? I was finishing some business I had, but you shoulda been home a while ago. Do you really love school so damn much?"

"I'm waiting for Ulquiorra!" Orihime objected to his comment, and looked towards the ground. "We were supposed to go visit clubs after school, but he never showed up." Grimmjow looked toward the girl with a kind of pitying look. "What is it?"

"Do you even know why Ulquiorra and I aren't in clubs anymore?" Grimmjow said, his voice dead serious, lacking the anger and impatience from earlier. "We used to be, as freshman. Ulquiorra was on the basketball team, and I was in the soccer club. I quit, but Ulquiorra suffered an injury in his first game, and he can't play anymore. It was the only reason he'd bother coming to school. Everything before it was just something he knew he had to sit through to get to what he loved doing. But he can't do it anymore." Orihime now realized why Ulquiorra had been acting as he had earlier. What she was doing was basically taunting him completely. She took off running towards the main school building, realizing that she had to find him and apologize for what she said.

_He didn't come because he's mad because I reminded him that he can't do what he enjoys at all anymore. I put salt in that wound, and it made him so mad that he doesn't want to be around me anymore…_

She ran for hours, completely unable to find him, until she heard a dribbling sound. She ran towards the basketball courts, and sure enough, there was Ulquiorra, still in his school uniform, dribbling a basketball against the ground, seemingly preparing for a shot. He jumped up into the air, aimed with one hand, and…

**Bud, bud, bud bud bud…**

The ball simply rolled off from his hand. Orihime simply stared, unable to understand. The girl couldn't register what had just happened.

"It won't go up." Ulquiorra stared at the basket in front of him, completely aware of her presence from the very beginning. "My arm can't go any higher than this. The one thing I truly loved, the only thing I lived for… It took but a moment for it to be ripped from my hands, when I had done nothing to deserve it. To lose something so important to you without a fair reason, when you had would dream about it… That is the true despair that I experience. No matter what I do, this arm will never go up higher than this."

Tears began to well up in Orihime's eyes, and she stepped away from Ulquiorra, afraid of this sadness that he was showing her. His knees fell to the ground, and he simply looked at her, a pitiful look plastered onto his face.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, I didn't know…" Orihime started apologizing, staring at Ulquiorra with pity, fear, and sorrow. She turned her head, suddenly taking interest in the ground.

"Don't Look Away!" She quickly turned and looked up at Ulquiorra, who was standing up. "If you can't face my past sorrows and failures, things you yourself have never experienced, how do you expect to face your own? You have to be stronger, or remain as worthless as you are now." Ulquiorra seemed angry at her, and started walking towards her. He picked up his bag, breaking his pathway for only a moment and continued walking towards her. "You're all alone, right? Then face this and grow stronger because you know of sorrow. Become strong enough to face and accept it. If you can accept it, maybe you'll become stronger. If you become stronger, maybe you'll gather the courage to finally make your presence important to people here." Ulquiorra said, as he passed her. "Come on. Don't you have a family that would be worried about you? Do you even know what time it is?"

_Why am I even doing all of this? None of this is necessary, and I find no point in it, but... If I left her like this, she'd become even worse than she is now... I suppose I'm doing this because... If she was too weak, she would cling tighter to me than she is already... Yes, that's it._

Orihime wiped the tears that were welling up in her eyes away, and followed Ulquiorra. She couldn't bear to look at him, she felt she had caused him so much pain and so much sorrow.

"Why did you wait for me?" Orihime perked up at his question. Through a sob she managed to reply.

"Because- y-you're an important person to me… My first friend here… The only friend I have here…" Orihime couldn't take it anymore. She fell to her knees, and starting crying uncontrollably. "And yet I still hurt you so much! I was so inconsiderate of your feelings! I'm a horrible friend!"

"Yes, you are." Orihime's sobs were only growing stronger. Ulquiorra kneeled down and tilted up your chin. "But you're my friend now, I suppose." He wiped a single tear from her face. "Crying like that doesn't make you a better friend." Orihime stood up and simply clasped onto him, muttering apologies.

"Woman, release me this instant!" Ulquiorra had not been expecting this, and lost balance, falling with Orihime on top of him. With a sigh, he embraced her weakly. They simply stayed like that for about five minutes, before Ulquiorra spoke and broke the silence between them. "We'll go visit the clubs tomorrow."

"But I- I…" Orihime was about to object, only to have Ulquiorra interrupt her.

"I wouldn't do this for someone who isn't a friend, alright? But we have to get you more friends right?" Ulquiorra looked up at the clear sky, staring at the stars, admiring how they lit up the sky. "Let's aim to make you a hundred friends, alright?" Orihime nodded, and smiled through her tears, managing to wipe them away.

"Only ninety nine more..." With that, Orihime giggled.

"Honestly woman, you make no sense." Ulquiorra stood up, and, brushing himself off, started heading off. Orihime followed suit.

_Such a strange woman… But I suppose she isn't all that bad._

_

* * *

_

_**MAGICAL AUTHOR'S NOTE OF DOOM!(#1):**_

For those of you who actually read this far, thank you kindly. And I've decided that I'm going to give you a sneak peak at chapter 4. ^^

"Orihime walked into the room, expecting the chemistry lab to be empty by now, only to be greeted by stunning pink hair, followed by a small explosion. Orihime simply stared in disbelief at the figure who stood in front of her, who had taken to writing something down in a small notebook, and extinguishing a small flame that had lit up in his hair."

**For those of you who can't tell who this is, shame on you. ^^**


End file.
